New footprints discovered in a quarry in Poland show that the important evolution of fish to four-legged animals was 20 million years earlier than previously thought. The footprints are from about 395 million years ago from the Devonian geological period. Dozens of prints were discovered clearly showing ‘hand’ and ‘foot’ impressions and belonged to a lizard-like animal that could have grown up to 2.5 metres long. This is a key episode in evolution and all further land animals, including the dinosaurs, mammals, and humans, evolve from these early tetrapods.
Several trackways and some individual footprints were discovered in a disused quarry in the Holy Cross Mountains of south-eastern Poland. There are no marks of the body of the animals being dragged on the ground because they would have been partially supported by water. Previously it had been thought that lakes and river deltas were the necessary environment Continue Reading…